Bus Stop
by kk2788
Summary: A modern AU in which Natsu and Lucy ride the same public bus. Lucy always falls asleep and Natsu always wakes her up at her stop. What starts out a simple act of kindness between two strangers evolves and turns into something more…
1. Chapter 1

**Bus Stop**

 _A modern AU in which Natsu and Lucy ride the same public bus. Lucy always falls asleep and Natsu always wakes her up at her stop. What starts out a simple act of kindness between two strangers evolves and turns into something more…_

Every Tuesday and Thursday at five o'clock, she got on the number 7 bus at the fifth stop from the local community college. Looking back, the first time she got on the bus, Natsu noticed her immediately. Everything about her seemed out of place in the dirty city bus. She didn't slowly climb into the bus like a wary newcomer to a dangerous place. She strode onto the bus as if she never wanted to be anywhere else. When everyone looked up at her, she did not shrink away from their obvious stares. With her head held high, she walked to the seat across from his, sat down, and pulled out a thick worn copy of "Wuthering Heights".

Natsu spent most of the ride sneaking peeks at the beautiful blonde girl sitting across from him. She was so entranced by her book that she didn't seem to notice Natsu's lingering stares as he assessed her. There were two things he noticed about her immediately. She came from money, that much was obvious. The labels on her pristine clothes were designer and the huge key ring hanging off of her bag was decked out in gold that Natsu suspected was real.

The other thing was that he noticed was that she pretty, like really pretty. Normally he wasn't one to get caught up on things like that, but she was **distractingly** pretty. He almost couldn't stop himself from looking at her. That was weird for him, especially considering all of his other girl friends were really pretty too. In fact he was so unresponsive to their beauty that people often mocked him for being oblivious to women, even though it wasn't true. Actually he had just never been so fascinated by a girl before. He couldn't stop looking at her and remarking to himself about how pretty she was.

Soft and shiny blonde hair framed a full heart shaped face dominated by big brown doe eyes. Her pink mouth was set into a small smile as she read. She had a curvy figure that was accentuated by her short navy miniskirt and white button up that she wore. Whether on not she realized it, she was utterly attractive. She might even be the most attractive girl he's ever seen, Natsu thought to himself.

The sound of a vibration interrupted his thoughts. Her phone was ringing, he realized. He watched as she picked up the phone and answered, "Hello."

Natsu cringed internally when she caught him staring at her, but merely shot him a friendly smile. He swallowed and felt the slight blush begin to form on his cheeks.

"Yes Spetto. I'll be home before dinner." She said into the phone. "I promise." Natsu could hear the exceptionally loud voice that came through the phone receiver as the girl pulled it away to save her ear drums.

"Spetto, I know I have to get off at King's Street. Don't worry. I'll be fine."she continued. "I will see you when I get home. Bye." The girl promptly hung up the phone in irritation and put it back into her bag before she resumed her reading. Natsu watched as she got lost in her book again. He hadn't meant to listen in to her conversation and he felt mildly bad for doing so, but it gave him some insight into who she was. He was right to think she didn't belong on the bus. From the conversation he had overheard, it sounded as though this was perhaps her first time on the public bus.

Strange, he thought as he looked away again. He had to periodically remind himself that it was rude - and creepy- to stare. Natsu turned to look out the window and watch the scenery to avoid staring at her again.

This was how he normally spent the bus ride home because it did a really good job of distracting him from the slight nausea that turned in the pit of his stomach. Even with the motion sickness medicine he took everyday, he still got sick on any sort of moving machine if he didn't distract himself from the ride itself.

A good thirty five minutes had passed when he heard a faint thud on the ground. When he turned around, he saw that the girl across from him has fallen asleep and as a result, dropped her book. Natsu chuckled to himself at the sight of her sleeping so peacefully slumped onto her backpack on the seat next to her. It didn't look very comfortable, but she sure was cute.

He contemplated whether or not to wake her up, but decided against it. She must have been really tired if she could fall asleep on the public bus. No, Natsu decided he would wait and see if she woke up before her stop. If she didn't, then Natsu would wake her up. Until he would just watch over her and make sure she was okay. After all, it's dangerous to sleep on the bus.

So Natsu watched over her and made sure nothing happened to her while she was sleeping. For the first time in a long time, he wasn't bored to tears as he sat on the bus. He had always been a rather hyperactive person, and usually the long bus ride home after work was absolutely killer, but her appearance had made it so much more bearable.

He was actually vaguely disappointed when he felt the bus come to a stop and the announcement came on, informing the riders that they were at King's Street.

Natsu crossed the aisle and shook her shoulder gently. The blonde girl's head snapped up and her big brown doe eyes widened in a mixture of shock and fear when they focused on Natsu.

"What the - !" she began to yell.

"It's your stop. King's Street, right?" Natsu said, cutting her off mid yell. She shrank back visibly when he said that, but then relaxed.

"Oh. You must have heard me on the phone earlier. " Lucy said with a tired look on her face before she gathered her bag, picked up her book, and moved to get off. She turned around halfway up the aisle.

"Um, thanks." She said and then she hurried off the bus onto the cement sidewalk. Natsu turned to look out the window and was surprised to see the girl standing by the bus stop still, looking at the bus as it began to pull away. When she found his face, she waved at him and gave him a huge dazzling smile. Then she turned and walked away.

Natsu watched in surprise through the window as the bus sped off into the city, and the pretty girl he had spent the last hour with grew smaller and smaller until she was gone from sight. What a weird girl, Natsu thought to himself. She had waited just to wave and give him a smile. It was certainly odd behavior for a stranger he had just met, even if he had helped her out. He didn't think anyone else would have done the same.

"Your welcome." Natsu said softly to himself as he turned around in his seat. He couldn't wait to get home to tell Happy ,his cat, all about her. He would probably think that she was weird too.

The next time she was on the bus, the same thing happened again. She fell asleep and Natsu woke her up in time for her stop. After a few weeks it just became their routine and to be quite honest, Natsu was okay with it. He actually began to look forward to it. It was **their** thing.

However when she got on the bus today, she didn't just sit across from him. This time she just plopped down in the seat right next to him. Natsu couldn't help the look of that took over his face as he looked at her in, albeit pleasant, utter surprise. Of course he wanted to talk to her, but she had never taken the initiative to talk to him beyond their normal conversation when he woke her up so Natsu had just let things stay the way the were. He didn't want to ruin their comfortable acquaintanceship by pushing her and now here she was sitting next to him, completely unprovoked. Natsu just sat there, unsure of what to do next, until she broke the silence. With complete confidence, the pretty blonde girl stuck her hand out towards him and introduced herself.

"Hi my name's Lucy." she said. Natsu noted how sweet and soft her voice sounded. If he believed in that sort of thing, he would've sworn it was the voice of an angel.

"Natsu Dragneel." He responded, as he slipped his hand into hers and shook. "It's nice to finally meet you." He added. Lucy smiled up at him before she pulled her hand away and laid it down on her lap.

"Well Natsu, I just wanted to say thank you. You know, for always waking me up at my stop. I know I shouldn't fall asleep on the bus, but I'm always so tired after class that I just can't help myself." Lucy told him. What a perfect name for her, Natsu found himself thinking absentmindedly.

"Your welcome. I know what it's like to be _that_ tired, so I totally get it." He assured her.

"Are you a student at Crocus?" Natsu asked. She didn't look old enough to be a college student, but he could be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.

"In a sense." Lucy answered. "I'm still in high school, but I take Creative Writing classes there after school. I'm actually in the middle of writing a novel for my midterm that's due in about a month."

"Oh can I read it?" Natsu found himself asking before he even knew it. It was half meant to be a joke, but Natsu was actually curious as to what it was that she had to say.

"NO!" Lucy yelped in a joking manner as she lightly smacked Natsu's arm. "I promised my friend Levy she would be the first to read it." Levy, the name sounded familiar to Natsu, but he couldn't remember where he had heard it before.

"Oh well in that case will you tell me about it?" He asked in earnest interest. When at first she didn't answer, Natsu was worried that he had already crossed a line and ruined everything until the corners of her eyes began to crinkle up as she smiled at him. With that, any walls that Lucy may have had to keep her safe from funny looking pink haired strangers went crashing down and the floodgates opened.

They spent the whole hour long bus ride talking. For the first time, Lucy didn't fall asleep and Natsu didn't have to look outside for a suitable distraction from his nausea. When they got to her stop, Natsu actually felt sad that she would leave him alone for another twenty minutes, but when she stopped and waved to him like she always did he knew that this was just the start of something amazing.

 **At this point I am unsure as to whether or not I will keep this as a complete oneshot or continue this as a multi chapter story. Let me know which you would prefer by voting on the poll on my profile. As always, thanks for the read and all the wonderful support! I appreciate you all!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Bus Stop**

 **A Short Author's Note: So after listening to what you guys have been saying and doing some intense deliberation myself, I decided that I would continue Bus Stop! I hope you guys are as excited to continue this story as I am! Here's the next chapter! Please let me know if you like the direction the story is going! I always appreciate your input.**

Today Lucy found herself absentmindedly tapping her foot as she anxiously waited for her Creative Writing class to be over. It surprised her that she was so excited for class to be over, considering it was usually one of her favorite things in the world. Sure, she didn't love being the only high schooler in her class and she especially didn't like the way the teacher sometimes picked on her, but she was glad to finally be doing something that she wanted to do simply because she wanted to, not because her father wanted her to. It usually filled her with intense pride and excitement to be in her college class, but today she found she was excited for a whole different reason.

Ever since she had befriended him on the bus a week ago (though technically they had known each other for a total of a month if you included all the times he had woken her up on the bus), Lucy couldn't help but feel thrilled by the prospect of seeing Natsu again. Something about him was so utterly inviting. She felt completely comfortable with him, like they'd known each other for years.

It was probably due to the fact that he had been so kind to her, a total stranger, from day one. From that first day she had gone on the bus and he had woken her up, Lucy could tell that he was an inherently kind person, and it made her feel safe in his presence.

That was why last Tuesday she decided to sit next to him and finally speak to him. Looking back, she was glad she had done so. Already after the two conversations they had last week, Lucy had discovered a lot about him.

Natsu Dragneel (that was his full name) was seventeen years old. He was a junior in high school, though which one Lucy was still unsure. He lived in the north part of town with someone he called "Gramps" and spent most of his time working on the other side of town at a local pyrotechnics company called "Dragon's Roar". He also had a cat he claimed to have accidentally dyed blue named Happy.

He was an extremely interesting individual and Lucy was intrigued by him. So much so, that he was the topic of her assignment today. The assignment had been to create a new character and give them an interesting twist. Lucy had made him a wizard with the power to control fire with discernibly dragon-like features. She thought he would get a kick out of that, if she ever showed it him. She was incredibly shy when it came to sharing her writing with people and absolutely dreaded when she was forced to in class.

That was another reason why Lucy was so ready for class to be over with. If class let out soon, she wouldn't have to share her character design with the group of strangers. Luckily, Lucy was saved by the bell that let her know class was over.

Thank god, she thought to herself as she all but ran out of class and to the bus stop. Much to her excitement, she didn't have to wait long for the bus to show up.

On the bus, Lucy beamed when she saw Natsu, smiling at her, sitting in his normal spot.

"Hey Lucy? How ya' been?" he asked with his signature enthusiasm as she sat down next to him.

"I'm good. What about you Natsu?" she asked in reply.

"Well, I burned my hand at work today. Apparently using nitrate based compounds as an oxidising agent is "dangerous".' he joked, adding air quotes to the word dangerous. Lucy chuckled at him, until she saw the burn. Underneath the white bandages he had unwrapped, the skin on the palm of his right hand was red and inflamed to the point of blistering.

"That looks bad Natsu. What the heck do you do at that place?" she questioned him as she gingerly wrapped his hand back up for him. She paused when he winced and only continued when he nodded for her to do so.

"I come up with new fireworks and test them out" he answered as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That cannot be legal." Lucy countered sarcastically, crossing her arms and legs in emphasis.

"Maybe not, but I'd like to see them try to stop me. I love what I do. I don't ever want to do anything else." he retorted. He looked away from her as his eyes went somewhere else. Lucy felt her sarcastic nature melt and her face turned into a soft smile.

"You really love it huh?" she murmured in admiration for the passion that was so evident in his voice.

"Yeah I do. There's nothing better than spending hours perfecting a formula and seeing the design come to life. It's just the greatest feeling." He said, still looking at that far away place only he could see.

"I think I know what you mean. When I spend so much time writing something and I finally read the finished product, I just get this rush. There's nothing like it in the world." Lucy replied. This brought him back to the present and his eyes landed on Lucy again.

"Hey Lucy?" He ventured, his voice like soft velvet flowing between them.

"Yeah Natsu?" she replied softly.

"Can I have your number?" he asked. His velvet voice rippled with audible embarrassment and nervousness as his cheeks began to dust themselves with a rose color that rivaled his hair.

"Sure." Lucy answered. Natsu pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her.

"You can just put it in here." he said. Lucy looked down at the screen of the phone and nearly dropped it when she looked at the screen.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed in response to the curveball the universe had just thrown at her.

"What is it Lucy? What's wrong?" Natsu cried at her. She merely held the phone to his eyes and pointed at the cause of her exclamation.

The background of Natsu's phone showed the pink haired teen standing next to a group of boys at a high school football game wearing matching t-shirts that read Fairy Tail High School.

"I don't get it." he responded, scratching his head in confusion.

"Natsu." Lucy began expressing her irritation. "We go to the same school."

"What?! REALLY?!" he yelled, much to the anger of the bus driver who hushed the buzzing duo, but they ignored it.

"Yeah I can't believe it either." Lucy added. Natsu fell back limp against his seat.

"Wow." was all he said.

"You can say that again." Lucy said, and he did causing Lucy to giggle.

"Well at least now Gajeel and Gray will finally believe that you're real." Natsu proclaimed as he resumed his original sitting position.

"Are those the other guys in that picture?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah. That guy with all the metal in his face and the girl hair is my friend Gajeel." Natsu informed her, pointing to the tall heavily pierced man with a steel guitar in his hands.

"And this icey pain in my ass is Gray." This time Natsu pointed to an angry looking dark haired boy who was attempting to pry a pretty bluenette off of him.

"What the heck is that girl doing to him?" Lucy questioned him at the strange sight. Natsu laughed when he realized what she talking about.

"That's actually his stalker, Juvia. You see she's pretty jealous and and she thought he was flirting with our friend Lisanna, so she was trying to get him to look at her." he explained, chuckling the whole time.

"Wait! You're friends with Lisanna? Wow, talk about a small world after all…" Lucy said aloud.

"You know Lisanna?" Natsu asked in confusion.

"Not really, I'm actually friends with her older sister Mirajane." Lucy told him before looking down at the picture again.

"Who's that?" Lucy asked as she pointed at the guy behind them all. He was an older guy with rich blonde hair and a deep scar over one eye.

"That's Laxus. He's a senior. He works with me at Dragon's Roar. He's the guy behind all the mechanics." Natsu informed her. They settled into a comfortable silence as Lucy took in the rest of the photo. If she looked really close at the background she thought she could actually see herself, but it was unlikely. Surely she would have noticed if someone like Natsu was sitting that close to her, especially at a football game, but then again maybe not. Fairy Tail football games, more so than anywhere else, were incredibly loud, boisterous, and undeniably fun.

Natsu was the one to break the silence when he reiterated "I can't believe that we haven't met before now, especially considering you're friends with the older sister of one of my best friends."

"Yeah, it's pretty weird." Lucy agreed before she continued, "Your friends seem really interesting. I'm surprised Mirajane hasn't mentioned any them before. Will you tell me about them?"

Natsu smiled again. "Sure." he answered and then he launched into his favorite and most embarrassing stories about his friends.

Eventually Lucy did end up giving Natsu her number, but not before she heard some very intriguing stories about his friends, like the time Natsu dared Gray to walk outside and build a snowman completely naked (the nurses at the hospital had a hard time believing that one), or that day when Laxus accidentally electrocuted Gajeel and all his piercings had to be replaced becuase they kept shocking him.

In return Lucy told Natsu all about her friends from the scary Erza to the flirtatious drunk Cana. The stories she told him about her own friends were just as embarrassing and revealing. She told him all about the mess they had made in Levy's kitchen when they had tried to make strawberry shortcake for Erza on her birthday and the crazy stuff they did at the party later (conveniently leaving out all the incriminating details about herself).

As always the bus ride with Natsu was too short and when they got to her stop, she didn't want to say goodbye.

"Text me." she reminded Natsu before she got off the bus.

"I will!" He called from the bus as she stood and waved at him.

Lucy had just begun to walk home when she felt her phone vibrate. She pulled it out and looked at the text from the unknown number. She smiled when she read it.

"Hey it's Natsu. This is Lucy, right?" it read.

"Well who else would it be?" she sent him back before she put her phone away and continued walking home.

It was almost seven thirty when Lucy finally made it home. The walk hadn't taken that long, but when the sun began to set Lucy found herself distracted by the emergence of the stars in the sky. Lucy loved to stargaze and when she did it, the rest of the world around her faded away and the only thing she could be bothered to care about was the sea of luminescent stars above her.

"Spetto, I'm home." Lucy called when she came in the manor door. It sounded quite, meaning her father was probably gone again.

"Welcome home Lucy. How was class?" Spetto yelled from the kitchen. Lucy was about go in the kitchen and answer her, but she was deterred by the sound of her phone vibrating. She pulled it out of her bag and looked at the screen. It was Natsu.

"It was good. I'm gonna head off to bed early tonight. Night Spetto." she said as she ran upstairs, phone in hand. Once she was safely upstairs in her bedroom, she looked at the text.

"I just wanted to check to make sure you didn't give me a fake number or something." the his response read.

"I would never do something that mean!" she proclaimed in utter disagreement, huffing in annoyance as she did.

"Maybe," he replied, "but how do I know this is REALLY Lucy?" She found herself laughing at that one. Even though she hadn't known him long, Lucy couldn't help but think that was such a Natsu thing to say.

"I just told you I was." she responded. Then she put her phone down on her bed and got ready for the shower, practically bouncing. Talking to Natsu on the bus was always a pleasant experience for her, but now that she was going to be able to talk him more than twice a week she couldn't hide her excitement. She would have to hurry through her shower, she thought to herself as she jumped in.

Lucy shortened her normal shower routine by a good eight or so minutes in her hurry to get back to her phone. She had thrown on her pajamas and jumped onto her bed to look at her phone. He had texted back already.

"Yeah, but you could be lying. Maybe you're just pretending to be Lucy…" it read.

"Fine. How do I prove to you that I'm not lying?" Lucy replied exasperated.

"Send me a picture of you." Lucy almost dropped her phone in shock when she saw that. Lucy had been asked for pictures by guys before, but usually they meant nude pictures. However once the shock passed, Lucy realized that she was overreacting. Natsu didn't seem the type to ask for those, especially in the context of their conversation. All he wanted was a picture to prove she was who she said she was. Lucy actually began to feel herself turn red in embarrassment at her own misunderstanding.

"Okay." was all Lucy was going to send, but then she got a wonderful idea."Then you send me one of you too. You know, to make sure _you're_ not the who's lying."

"Okay I will then." he answered. Quickly Lucy stood up and looked in the mirror in despair, phone in hand. She had already taken a shower so her hair was wet, her makeup was completely gone, and she was in her pajamas. She didn't want to send him a picture of her like that, but he had already seen her today and if she sent him a picture from another day he would know. Maybe she should could put a filter on it to make her look better?

She was still in the middle of debating what to do when she felt her phone vibrate. Upon opening it, she realized it was the picture from Natsu and she couldn't stop looking at it.

In the picture Natsu was sitting on his bed in his pajamas and in his lap sat a blue cat. Ordinarily Lucy would have been caught up on the fact that he actually did have a BLUE cat, but she was too absorbed in his smile. She had seen it many times before and every single time it had never ceased to cause a flutter in her chest.

Yes, he was undeniably cute. Yes, he was probably one of the funniest people she had ever met. Yes, he was unbelievably kind to her, a stranger, for no reason. However, it was his signature smile that made her glue her eyes to the screen. It was more of a smirk really, but it revealed his brilliantly white teeth. There was a carefree and kindness that radiated from it and made her feel something warm deep in her chest.

She was so enveloped in committing that smile to memory that she nearly forgot to send him one in return. Quickly she took a picture and laid down in bed to anxiously wait for his response. Until then, she passed the time by looking at the picture he had sent her and looked at all the little details she had missed upon first glance.

Most of the picture was of him, but in the background she could see the rest of his room. Littered on the floor lay clothes in various states of cleanliness, all covered in sprinkles of blue cat fur. On his bedside table, there was a half empty two liter bottle of soda and a red notebook open to a page containing various chemical combinations. He really did take his work seriously. On the walls hung pictures of different fireworks he had created with bizarre names like Fairy Glitter and Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame that just reflected the designer entirely. Lucy couldn't help but smile at it all as they gave her a little peak into the life of the boy she couldn't stop thinking about at.

At the same time, Natsu lay in his own bed, petting Happy and looking at the picture of Lucy. Naturally she was pretty whenever he saw her in her day clothes with her hair and makeup all done, but the way she looked in the picture was so different. In the picture on his phone she wore no makeup and her thick, wet hair draped around her. She wore an oversized tee shirt that hung loosely off one of her shoulders and revealed clean skin, rosy from the shower she must have taken before hand.

Sure he wasn't exactly experienced with girls, but he couldn't help but think she looked so much prettier this way. She was so naturally beautiful. She didn't need the nice clothes or the makeup to look so radiant, she just was.

Not only was she the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, but she was also the nicest. From the moment she had walked into his life, he had been blown away by her unending kindness to everyone she met, but especially him. People tended to stay away from him because they thought he was weird, but she didn't. She didn't judge him for the way he always smelled like chemical fires or the singe marks on the majority of his clothes. She didn't look down on him for living on the other side of town or for not being as wealthy as she was. She was just completely unabashedly kind. The only other girl who had ever been that nice to him was Lisanna, and ever since she had moved back to town, they hadn't been nearly as close at they had once been.

Quite simply Lucy was the closest thing to a "perfect girl" that Natsu had ever had the privilege to meet. The revelation sent the butterflies in Natsu's stomach into frantic flight. He decided that no matter what, tomorrow at school, he would find Lucy and prove to himself and his friends that she was indeed real.

He took one more look at the picture before he decided he had to go to bed or risk oversleeping the next day. He sent Lucy a quick goodnight text and he put his phone on the charger for the night. Then he settled next to Happy, who liked to sleep in in the middle of the bed giving Natsu no space, and waited for sleep to come.

Unfortunately just as he felt himself begin to relax a ping interrupted his attempts at sleep. He reached over to his bedside table and looked at the phone screen to see a return text from Lucy.

"Good night Natsu. Sweet dreams." It read. Natsu smiled as he put his phone down and settled back into bed. He was sure that now he would.

The next day when he woke up, he faintly remembered his dream from the night before, and the blonde who had made an unexpected appearance in it.

 **Sorry for the bereftness of the texting part. Writing text exchanges is one of my weaknesses as a writer. Otherwise I hope you enjoyed this update, it's pretty lengthy. As always, thanks for the read and all the wonderful support!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Bus Stop**

 **Author's Note: I'm really excited about this next chapter of Bus Stop! The response from everybody regarding this particular story has been absolutely mind blowing and so I tried to make this chapter a longer one. Also, my apologies for the long break. I've been on vacation for the past month so to make up for lack of updating I will be updating all of my chapter fics. Hope you enjoy!**

When he arrived at school the next day (with his usual flare as he burst into homeroom five minutes late), Natsu made it his personal mission to find Lucy. If she was indeed friends with Mirajane, it only seemed logical that she might go to the same school as her, so today Natsu decided he would find out for sure. After the unbearably long and boring half hour silence that was homeroom, Natsu located his gaggle of friends and ran over to them.

"Hey guys!" he greeted them as he jogged over.

"What's up flame for brains?" Gray immediately teased, instigating Natsu like a child would, which meant of course Natsu reacted.

"You wanna go already snowcone?" Natsu retaliated, smoke coming out of his ears (metaphorically of course). The two males butted heads angrily.

"Will you two dunderheads stop fighting? You're giving me a headache already." Laxus complained as he leaned against the locker, slipping his headphones off of his ears and laying them around his neck. Natsu jumped back from Gray and rounded to Laxus. He opened his mouth to fight back, but Gajeel beat him to the punch.

"You better watch out Laxus, you're starting to sound just like the old man." Gajeel warned in a teasing tone. He crossed his arms for good measure and gave a smirk.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you wanted to fight me." Laxus countered, straightening himself from his laid back position and getting closer to Gajeel. The two probably would have brawled right there if they hadn't been interrupted by the small white haired girl.

"Wow guys. This must be a new record, fighting before first period." Lisanna stated when she suddenly appeared beside them. The four teenage boys had been so embroiled in their testosterone fueled battle that they hadn't even noticed the petite white haired girl walk up and stare at them disapprovingly.

"Don't look at me, Natsu started it." Laxus insisted, tilting his head in the direction of the flaming pinkette.

"Hey don't blame me! You were the one who sounded like an old fart!" Natsu yelled back. "And anyways I actually had something important to ask you guys." He crossed his arms defiantly and put his nose in the air.

"Well spill it fire breath, we don't have all day!" Gray asserted, much to Natsu's great dislike. Natsu would have hit him if he didn't have better things to do. He had to find Lucy.

"Remember how I told you about the girl I met on the bus? Well last night I found out that she's actually friends with Mirajane, so I was wondering if you guys could help me find her. Her name's Lucy Heartfilia." Natsu informed them.

Simultaneously all of Natsu's friends' jaws dropped.

"Wait a minute, you mean to tell me the beautiful girl you've been telling us all about is Lucy Heartfilia?" Gajeel asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, why is that so hard to believe?" Natsu inquired further.

"Well to start her father is one of the richest men in Fiore. Why would a girl like that ride the bus when she probably has servants and stuff to drive her around?" Gray told him. Natsu was caught off guard by that. He knew Lucy was wealthy, he had guessed that the first day he had seen her, but Gray was right. If she was **_that_** wealthy, why did she take the bus? It was a strange thing for her to do, but Natsu found himself glad for it. Otherwise, they may never have met and Natsu couldn't picture that happening now that he did know her. The thought of never meeting Lucy was unthinkable.

"But also why would a girl like that talk to you?" Gray continued.

"So you do know her?" Natsu asked for clarification, completely ignoring the bait that Gray had laid out for him

"Yes, moron. She's in our grade." Gajeel answered. Natsu nearly fell over in surprise. Not only did they go to the same school, but they were in the same grade. How was it they had never met before?

"Do you know where I can find her?" He asked anxiously, even more excited to find her.

"Why do you wanna know? Do you like her?" Laxus asked teasingly, causing Natsu to flush.

"Oh my god he does like her. Natsu actually likes a girl!" Gray added on to Laxus' teasing, laughing at the whole situation while he did.

"Will you shut up ice ballerina and tell me where she is?" Natsu yelled menacingly, but his cries were ignored as Laxus, Gajeel, and Gray all laughed at the revelation of Natsu's new crush.

"She likes to hang out in the library free period." Lisanna answered with a small smile. Natsu would never know it, but on the inside her little heart was breaking.

"Thanks Lisanna." Natsu said before he took off running to the school library.

Natsu left his group of friends standing in complete and utter surprise with nothing left to do but ponder the previous encounter with the flame headed boy. They all merely stood in their same positions as sudden realizations hit them.

"He completely ignored my insult." Gray announced in disbelief.

"Dragon breath must have it real bad for Heartfilia." Laxus added in a similar feeling. The group continued to watch the hallway empty as Natsu disappeared from their field of view.

"Oh come on guys, this is DRAGNEEL we're talking about. When has Natsu ever shown even remote interest in a girl?" Gajeel asked. It seemed pretty unbelievable to him that Natsu Dragneel, also known as literally the most romantically and sexually dense human on the planet, could just suddenly begin to like a girl.

"Yeah that's true…"Gray conceded. He too saw the truth in Gajeel's words. It did seem pretty unlikely, but at the same time it was Lucy Heartfilia. There was a reason the guys talked about her so much in the locker room. When she walked through the halls of their school, it was as if Aphrodite herself was strutting to third period. A girl like that could bring out something in every guy, maybe even Natsu too.

Nah, Gray then thought to himself. No matter how hot she was, even she probably couldn't make Natsu take an interest in girls.

So the guys, all whom had eventually reached the same conclusion as Gray, dispersed to go to free period, leaving Lisanna all alone. She remained frozen to her spot looking down the empty hall that Natsu had just run through with complete and utter heartbreak.

She alone knew the truth of the pink haired boy's affections for Lucy, for she had long wished to be the object of said feelings. So long had she watched him and waited for him to love her back, that she knew instantly upon looking into his dark forest eyes that he felt something greater for Lucy.

Even if he didn't know it yet.

 _Natsu_

When Natsu finally made it to the library, he flung the huge metal double doors open and scanned the huge interior looking for his dear friend. Luck was on his side because Lucy was indeed there in the library.

"LLUUUCCCCYYYYY!" Natsu yelled at the unsuspecting blonde browsing the book shelf as he ran up to her and squeezed her in a tight hug until she turned purple.

"NATSU YOU PERVERT GET OFF!" Lucy commanded as she shoved him away from her. "You can't just hug a girl you've only known for two months and you certainly can't go screaming her name in the library."

"Sorry Lucy. I'm just excited!" Natsu exclaimed as he pulled back from Lucy awkwardly, his face the same color as his hair. Though thoroughly embarrassed at his own actions, his excitement at finally seeing Lucy outside of the bus had him absolutely bouncing with energy.

"Me too." Lucy agreed. "I can't believe we've gone to the same school all this time and we met on the bus of all places."

"Yeah it is weird. I feel like we should have had class together at some point, especially considering we're in the same grade." Natsu insisted.

"We are? That is really strange then. What classes are you taking?" Lucy asked as she lead them over to an empty table in the corner of the library where they were hidden from the librarian's angry stare. They sat down at the table and compared classes. After that it made sense that they had never had the same classes. Lucy took only advanced history and english classes and the regular math and science classes, while Natsu took the exact opposite classes. It seemed he excelled in math and science while he left much to be desired in the english and history classes. He didn't know why but math and science made sense to him. They were straightforward with rules that for the most part, never changed and Natsu appreciated that. It did seem however that they had lunch together, so they made plans to meet up then.

Once they were done comparing classes and Lucy was done putting Natsu through the ringer for his innapropriate library behavior, they spent the whole free period together much like they did on the bus, just talking. Natsu did not miss that nap he would usually take during that time and Lucy did not fret about missing a chance to read or study. Instead they both enjoyed the chance to get to know each other better, even though they didn't really feel like strangers. In all honesty, it felt more like reuniting with an old friend they hadn't seen in a while. Neither of them could explain the rightness of it, even though they had felt it on the bus as well (though in a much more muted sense). To put it simply, it felt like Natsu belonged next to Lucy and vice versa.

When the period ended, they agreed that they would spend free period together the next day and then went their separate ways.

For the rest of the school day until lunch, Natsu was beyond ecstatic. For one, he had discovered his hunch about Lucy was right. They did indeed go to the same school and the fact that they were in the same grade was just icing on the cake. Then on top of that, they had spent the whole free period together and it was just as wonderful as their time on the bus. To make things even better they were going to get together later for lunch. All of it had Natsu so distracted that he didn't even pay attention during his favorite class, trigonometry.

When it did come time for lunch, Natsu went barreling through the halls towards the cafeteria in his eagerness to see Lucy again. Once he was there, he was very surprised and excited to see Lucy standing there, looking around and waiting for him of all people. He didn't know why but the sight sent a pleasant warmth into his veins and throughout his already warm body.

"Hey Lucy!" he called, getting the blonde's attention. Her head snapped to find the person who had called her name and she beamed when she saw Natsu.

"Oh hey Natsu!" she yelled back as she waved energetically at him. Smirking the whole way, he ran over to her.

"I wasn't sure when you would get here so I left fourth period early so I could get here early." She told him, slightly embarrassed and red, as she led him to his normal table outside.

"Really? Well I'm normally late, but I wanted to make sure I didn't keep you waiting too, so I ran here." He admitted to her. She smiled shyly in response.

"It looks like we were both excited for lunch." She pointed out as they sat down next to each other.

"Yeah definitely!" he replied, smirking, as he began to pull his haphazardly thrown together lunch out of his bag. Normally, he would buy lunch, but he didn't have any cash so he just threw a bunch of stuff into his bag. Now, looking at his own "lunch", and he used the term quite loosely to describe the strange ensemble of foods before him, and seeing Lucy's he felt a little ashamed.

His own meal consisted of a foil wrapped piece of pizza, a half empty family size bag of chips, and a smooshed donut. While it was a normal lunch for an abnormally hungry teenage boy, it didn't compare to Lucy's. Lucy's lunch was a neatly prepared five-star chef's product. The entrée was a huge helping of shrimp linguine with a huge complete salad on the side. There really was no comparison to be made, since hers was so obviously above his own.

"Oh do you want some?" she asked, noticing the way he'd been staring at her food. "Capricorn always packs me too much. I never finish it."

"Really?" he said, eyes bugging out of his head. She had _that_ every day? Natsu couldn't believe it.

"Yeah really!" she insisted, pushing the pasta towards him and handing him a fork.

"Thanks!" he said enthusiastically before he began to stuff his face.

"OH MAVIS THIS IS GOOD!" he yelled happily, causing Lucy to laugh at him as she began to eat her salad.

"Wow it's so pretty out here." Lucy said, looking at the blooming cherry blossom trees around the outside lunch area. "I can't believe I've never eaten out here before."

"Where do you normally eat?" he asked, before putting a huge handful of chips in his mouth, giving Lucy a chance to take a bite of the pasta he'd ben consuming.

"Inside, but I figured if I was gonna sit with you, you might want to sit at the table you normally do." She answered, still entranced by the beautiful scenery.

"Oh… wait if you sit inside normally, then how did you know where my normal table was?" he asked, confused. She immediately went red.

"Well um…" she began to stutter. She didn't want to have to tell him that she had asked her friends all about him in an effort to "accidentally" bump into him some time during the school day, but that was before he had found her in the library. Now she realized she had made a huge and revealing mistake by bringing him to the table where he normally sat. Now she had to explain how she knew that information.

However, luckily, she was saved by the appearance of a loud group of girls.

"Hey Lucy!" Levy McGarden, Lucy's best friend and now savior, yelled as she raced to sit down next to her friend followed by Erza and Cana.

"Hey guys!" Lucy greeted her friends, thankful for their sudden appearance.

"What's up Lucy?" Cana asked as she sat down, pulling her flask, her favorite lunch time drink, out of her pocket. Erza sat down next to her with tray full of strawberry shortcake.

"Yes Lucy, please tell us what is up. Like why are we sitting here instead of our normal spot and also, who is this?" Erza questioned, a dark aura surrounding her.

"This is Natsu. Natsu these are my friends, the ones I told you about." Lucy introduced them to Natsu.

"Oh so this _Natsu_." Levy, teased, elbowing Lucy with a raised eyebrow. He opened his mouth to say hi, but he was cut off by a loud grouchy voice.

"Oh HELL NO!" the voice yelled. The girls turned around to see a very angry Gajeel standing behind them, his arms crossed in defiance. Laxus and Gray stood behind him with similarly displeased looks.

"Natsu, what the hell is this?" Laxus asked, nostrils flaring, his grip on his lunch tray turning his knuckles white.

"Well guys, you see…" he began mumbling, cheeks red, but Gray cut him off.

"Guys look!" Gray insisted, pointing a finger at Lucy. The two other boys looked at the blonde, jaws dropping for the second time that day.

"It's Lucy!" he informed them in utter disbelief at what his eyes were witnessing. "He's actually sitting with her and look, she's sharing her food with him too!"

"That's a BIG mistake, Blondie." Gajeel laughed at the blonde.

"Hey!" Natsu protested angrily, but he was ignored.

"Wow I can't believe he actually had it in him." Laxus added.

"Yeah, but that doesn't explain what the rest of them are doing here." Gajeel sneered as he leaned down to stare menacingly at the short bluenette sitting next to Lucy. "What are you doing here shrimp?" he asked Levy. She mimicked his crossed arms and air of defiance.

"I don't have to explain myself to you." She quipped back at him. He stood up and let out a groan of frustration.

"Okay. That's enough." Erza ordered as she began to stand, the Titania coming out of here.

"As if, this is our table and we refuse to share it." Laxus refuted.

Lucy and Natsu looked at each other and shared an apologetic look. The group remained at a stubborn stand still, tensions rising, until the sound of a laugh broke the tension. Everybody turned around to see Lisanna, Mirajane, and Juvia walking towards the table, laughing.

"Oh hey everybody!" Mirajane greeted them with a kind smile, but it turned concerned when she saw half the group was standing. "What's going on?"

"They stole our table, that's what happened." Gajeel answered, not bothering to hide his irritation.

"Stole is a harsh word." Lucy threw back at him, hands on her hips.

"Oh come on guys, the table is big enough for all of us! Can't we just share?" Lisanna pleaded as she placed her tray down.

"No." Laxus immediately countered.

"You sure?" Mirajane asked, lashes fluttering.

"You know," he started, mouth going dry, "Suddenly I'm not so against the idea. Come on Gajeel." Mirajane laughed at the way his eyes never left her as she sat down. Realizing he was staring, he tore his eyes away as he sat down next to her.

"Yeah I think I see what Laxus is saying." Gray agreed, looking at Lucy, as he sat down next to an unhappy Natsu. She squirmed awkwardly under his observant gaze.

"LOVE RIVAL." Juvia declared angrily as she too stared, unblinking, at Lucy. She sat down next to Gray.

That left Gajeel as the only one still standing.

"Really guys?" he scoffed.

"Oh come on dude." Cana laughed, "If you sit down and play nice, I'll share my booze with ya." Gajeel loosened up at that.

"Fine, give me the booze." He reluctantly agreed, taking the flask from her hand as he finally sat down.

"See isn't this nice?" Mirajane asked smiling.

"Well don't get used to it." Gajeel said. "This is a one time thing." Oh how wrong he was.

"Yeah thanks Lucy." Lisanna said to the blonde. "Without you this never would have happened."

"Oh it was nothing," Lucy tried to play it off. "I just wanted to hang out with Natsu." The boy in question turned pink at her answer.

"Well now that Natsu's got a girl, maybe we can finally get some of these other losers girlfriends." Lisanna laughed.

"Excuse me?" Gray yelped, nearly choking on his food. "Just because he **finally** talked to a girl doesn't mean he has one. Flames for breath over here couldn't get a girl even if he kidnapped her caveman style."

"DO YOU WANNA GO ICE PRINCESS?" Natsu roared, pushing his forehead against Gray's.

"LET'S DANCE DRAGON TOES!" Gray retaliated as they began to tussle.

"Is that normal?" Levy asked Lisanna.

"Yeah, I'm just surprised it hasn't happened earlier." She answered, but all hell broke loose when the boys accidentally bumped into Erza. The red head slowly rose and turned on the boys who were now trembling in fear.

"You interrupted my sweets." She said, eyes black soulless pits.

"Please don't kill us." The boys begged in unison.

"Oh don't worry…" she began. "Death would be too quick for you." She smiled before she grabbed their heads and smashed them together.

"Owww." They mumbed, holding their heads in their hands.

"Now be nice." Erza ordered and then she went back to her strawberry shortcake.

"Are you okay Natsu?" Lucy asked as she helped him up and back up to his seat.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Is she always so violent?" he asked.

"You have no idea…" Cana asked, nursing her drink.

"Well if they don't fight I won't have to be." Erza added, face buried in her sweets. Natsu and Gray shivered in fear.

"Okay…" Levy said awkwardly, "So, who's going to the football game Friday?"

"Is that even a question?" Gajeel scoffed.

"Yeah, come on, Levy. Everybody goes to the Fairy Tail football games." Cana added, slightly intoxicated.

"Should we take that away from her?" Gray whispered to Lucy, pointing at Cana's flask.

"I don't recommend it." She whispered back.

"Wait, I have an idea!" Natsu yelled over the whole table. All eyes turned to him as his friends began laughing.

"Oh that's funny." Gray laughed as Natsu stared him down.

"We're waiting." Laxus said.

"What if we all get together before the game?" he suggested.

"Like a tailgate?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, like a tailgate." He replied.

"That could be fun." Lisanna added.

"Juvia agrees, especially if she gets to be with Gray." Juvia insisted, leaning towards Gray.

"I'll bring the booze." Cana yelled as she slumped onto the table.

"And I can make the food." Mirajane suggested.

"Absolutely! Mirajane's cooking is the best!" Lucy complimented him.

"I've got a kick ass sound system in my truck. We can use that for music." Gajeel interceded.

The lunch period passed by quickly as the teens all worked together to plan their tailgate party. It was over way earlier than they were expecting so, they all agreed to have lunch together for at least the rest of the week. After that of course, things would go back to the way they were before, they were all assured.

Oh Mavis were they wrong.

After lunch, Lucy and Natsu walked together to their lockers and then to class, discussing how well their friends got along. It was a very strange sight indeed. Erza managed to keep Natsu and Gray from fighting every five minutes. Laxus and Mirajane got along very well indeed, so much so that Lisanna had decided to call the pair Miraxus. The name caught on. Levy and Gajeel, despite their obvious differences, bonded over their shared love of music. While the whole period had started off rocky, by the end it was actually a pretty fun time. They agreed to meet up after school before they went their separate ways. Both were so distracted by their thoughts of the other that they barely paid attention to the time passing.

When that final bell went off, and school was finally over, Lucy and Natsu met up again.

"Hey Luce!" he greeted her excitedly when he finally saw her. She blushed bright red when she realized he had given her a cute nickname.

"Hey Natsu." She replied, hoping he can't tell how badly she's blushing, but of course he can.

"So I had an idea." He ventured forward.

"Another one? You're on a roll today Natsu!" She laughed.

"What if I bring some of my fireworks from work?" he suggested.

"I don't know…" Lucy whimpered. She looked up at Natsu with wide eyes. "Is that safe?"

"Of course it is! Trust me!" he assured her, throwing on his signature toothy smirk.

His words sent a deep feeling through her. Trust him? That was a lot to ask, but not for him. They hadn't known each other for long, but Lucy really felt that she could trust him. This was the boy she had met on the bus. The same one who had protected her on the bus and made sure she was awake in time to get back home. The same one who made her smile, and laugh, and feel safe.

Trust Natsu? Yeah, she thinks she does.

"I do." She replied to him with a gentle and honest smile. He smiled back at her with the same look on his own face.

"Good. Now you have to help me pick out which ones to bring." He insisted.

"How do I do that?" Lucy asked.

"We're gonna set them off of course!" He laughed at her as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. What a Natsu thing to say, Lucy thought to herself.

"Okay." She replied, causing to fist pump in the air to himself. Lucy couldn't stop herself from laughing at him. She would have been content to stand there with him forever, if her ride hadn't shown up.

A sleek black car pulled up to the curb next to them and the window rolled to reveal Capricorn driving.

"It's time to go Miss Lucy." He reminded her.

"Okay Capricorn." She responded before looking back at Natsu. "Bye Natsu." She got into the car and closed the door behind her. Then she rolled down the window to wave at Natsu as she drove away.

"Bye Lucy!" he called after her.

Natsu watched as her car pulled away and took her farther and farther away from him before he realized he forgot to tell her something.

"Wait! Wait!" Natsu yelled chasing after the car.

"Stop Capricorn!" Lucy yelled, causing the car to come to a halting stop in the middle of the parking lot. Natsu ran to her window, completely out of breath.

"Sorry, I just forgot to tell you something." He informed her, trying to catch his breath.

"Natsu, you didn't have to run after me! You could have texted me." She replied, laughing at his impulsiveness.

"Oh… yeah I guess I could do that." He responded, giving himself a mental palm to the face.

"So…" she started. "What did you want to tell me?"

"Can you meet me somewhere tonight, like about 9?" he asked, anxious for her response.

"Of course! Just text me the specifics later." She answered, smiling at the absurdity of the whole moment. Then Natsu smiled because she smiled.

"Bye Lucy!" he yelled, stepping back, and letting her car drive away.

"Bye Natsu!" he heard her yell back, but he was already gone. Natsu ran home faster than he thought humanly possible, all the way thinking about what he had planned for tonight.


End file.
